In an unexpected announcement today, Square Enix announced the cancellation of three of the four planned Final Fantasy XV episode expansion packs and also confirmed that game director Hajime Tabata has left the company. Tabata’s last day at Square Enix was October 31. The canceled Final Fantasy DLC episodes include Aranea, Lunafreye, and Noctis. The fourth one, Ardyn, remains in development, and is scheduled to launch in March 2019. The expansion packs were being developed by Luminous, the new Square Enix internal studio. However, that team will now focus on making a new AAA game, though it hasn’t been announced yet. In an earnings report, Square Enix announced a major change to Luminous that resulted in an “extraordinary loss” amounting to $33 million. Until now, it wasn’t know what that loss was related to, but now it looks like it’s connected to the DLC cancellation. Also during the announcement event, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XV’s Comrades multiplayer will now be released as a standalone game, meaning you don’t need the base game to play it. There will be a further 10 new bosses, as well as more costumes and weapons in the standalone game. FFXV: Multiplayer Comrades, as it’s called, will launch on December 13. Those who already bought the Comrades expansion will get the new, standalone edition for free. Also during the presentation, Square Enix announced a new cross-promotion with Fina Fantasy XIV Online. An event called “Adventurer From Another World” will be available inside Final Fantasy… [Read full story]